THE IRRIGATION AGE. 573 



in excavation in the first few miles; and there is also a great deal of 

 work to be done in the river, on the weir, and on training and protec- 

 tive embankments or other works. It is the custom, then, in India to 

 allot these works with the entire excavation of the first six or eight 

 miles of the main canal to prison labor. A temporary jail is built in 

 a central position within the length of work allotted and organized for 

 the reception and maintenance of from 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners, with a 

 trustworthy and fully qualified superintendent and staff of guards. 

 The convicts are marched out every morning to their work and 

 marched back every evening to the jail, where they can be securely 

 housed for the night. They never have more than four or five miles 

 distance to walk to their work, and seldom so much. There is enough 

 work to employ them for several years around the jail; so that the 

 expense of constructing it is fully repaid in the end by the value of 

 the work done. 



In the excavation of eight miles of a canal with a bed width of 

 from 150 to 200 feet and with a depth of digging of from ten to twenty 

 feet, there is sufficient work to employ 1,600 prisoners for some years. 

 All their work is done by spade and barrow or basket; the soil dug 

 out by spade is carried away either in baskets on the heads of men or 

 in wheelbarrows: it is not the object to save labor by the use of 

 machinery, but to employ as much labor as possible; the value of the 

 work done by each man exceeding the cost of his maintenance, and so 

 bringing in a profit to the Government, if possible. The convicts are 

 secured against escape by having chains from, the waist to the ankles; 

 these prevent their running or moving fast, while leaving them quite 

 free for work or for walking; and they are looked after by guards 

 with firearms or other weapons. Any attempt at mutiny or escape 

 can be promptly suppressed. 



In India these temporary jails are built of adobe or sun dried 

 brick, with the cheapest and simplest timber roofs, doors and win- 

 dows, and the work of construction is mainly carried out by convicts 

 brought to the place, and kept there, before the coming of the main 

 body of convicts. When the work these men have been brought for 

 is completed, they are removed to some other canal to be similarly 

 employed there for the next few years. The adobe walls of the jail 

 are left, and the useful timber either sold or removed for the next 

 jail. 



While convict labor is thus being employed, the whole of the re- 

 mainder of the canal system, including several hundreds of miles of 

 canal, branches, distributaries (Laterals), and all the buildings, 

 bridges, or other works, is being done by paid free labor, usually on 

 contracts. The Indian Government system allows of both kinds of 

 labor being fully employed; for the system contemplates the con- 



